Any pole dancers here?

anchii

Hi everybody! I'm 33 years old and this spring I was diagnosed with stage 1 BC, 6mm, luckily didn't need chemotherapy, I had radiation & nolvadex for 5 years. But they removed the first axillary nodes, 13 lymph nodes were removed and came back clean.

Before the surgery I was going to pole dance for almost three years and also went to rock climbing. Some doctors say I can try these sports again and some are against it. I went yesterday to a pole dance class after a six months break. This time I only did the one hour exercises before the pole part and skipped the pole. I must admit I feel scared to try.

Moderators

Hi anchii, welcome to Breastcancer.org! We're so glad you found this community, and hope you find the support and answers you're looking for.

Until other members come along to post with their own experiences, we recommend you to take a look at the articles Exercise After Surgery and Exercise During and After Radiation Therapy from the main BC.org site, that may help you with some of your questions.

We hope this helps!

The Mods

NLo

Hi Anchii,

I am having brachytherapy right now, so I can't do much besides walking this week, but I practice parkour (which includes a lot of swinging from rails) and rock climbing. I'm working with a physical therapist who has experience with clients who have undergone mastectomy and lymph node removal; he is telling me it will be a slow and steady rehab. I only had two lymph nodes removed, so my personal situation is different, but I have a friend who had a double mastectomy and a bunch of lymph nodes removed. She is extremely fit and got most of the strength back in her arm, but found she can no longer swing her bodyweight from the pole or do a handstand. However, she can do rock climbing (presumably bc her legs take off some of the load) - I think it will be a very individual outcome depending on your surgery. My friend stressed to me the key is going back to exercise slowly... Don't rush your arm. Good luck.

anchii

Hi NLo, thank you for your answer, I hope you are doing fine and you'll be done with the treatments soon so you can go back to parkour and rock climbing!

I didn't have mastectomy, only lumpectomy. I also didn't loose a lot of strength in the arm because of the surgeries but I know I have to go slow with everything so I don't develop lymphedema.
I've read a lot about it and also came to the conclusion that you may be able to try everything in time as long as you take time to recover and regain strength.

I'll take it slow and see how my arm reacts to different situations, just have to practice patience. Thanks and good luck to you too

SandraZ

Hi. I've just finished all treatments. During chemotherapy I've continued to exercise at home. Now, almost one year after my surgery, I can do all the pole dance elements that I was able to do before. So, I hope that's the same with you. All the best.

Moderators

Sandra-

Welcome, and thank you for input! It's supportive and inspiring to hear stories like yours!

The Mods

anchii

Hi SandraZ, sorry for the late reply. That's really great news! I didn't continue with pole dance since I was scared of my arm swelling. But on the bright side I found other sports like running & trail running, mini trampolines, so I continue to exercise regularly